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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Album Review - Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo

This review is part of the "Over Flow" Review Series. For various reasons these past reviews were not published anywhere else. I am tagging them as "Overflow Reviews" and may add some extra information after if needed but I will keep the ratings and reviews just as I originally wrote them. Enjoy:

Avi BuffaloAvi Buffalo
*** out of *****

On this self-titled debut release we find a band of California crooners easing into delightful pop melodies that float in the air like a wayward balloon. The disk sounds assured and confident in its dreamy tone, shimmering guitar lines, and cymbal flourishes. You would have no idea that this four piece (Avi Zahner-Isenberg guitar, vocals, Rebecca Coleman keyboards, vocals, Arin Fazio bass, Sheridan Riley drums) were barely out of high school.

The group’s first single is “What’s In It For?” a slice of 50’s style sunshine complete with requisite Ooh’s and Aah’s building up to a happy-go lucky ending. “Summer Cum” is a hyped up acoustic tune that deals with lovers troubles in a high pitched voice that sounds like a joke and out of place; Zahner-Isenberg’s voice has its limits and he should leave the high notes to Coleman. Both “One Last” with its bar room style piano and the electric guitar squiggles of “Truth Sets In” manage to display a healthy balance between the vocalists. “Remember Last Time” adds a new dimension to the band with it’s drawn out coda that stretches the tune to over 7 minutes showing an exploratory avenue that the band could pursue with success.

Easy to digest west coast pop with boy/girl vocals that breeze around; this is a good disk for a summer drive in the country with the windows rolled down.
_______________________________________________________________________Don't have much more to add, so enjoy some of the tunes of Avi Buffalo:
"What's It In For?"
"Remember Last Time"